100m hurdles: Masai Russell, who broke Tobi Amusan’s world record with her in Zurich race

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American hurdler Masai Russell on Thursday broke Nigerian sprint hurdler Tobi Amusan’s four-year-old world record in the women’s 100m hurdles, clocking 12.09 seconds at the Zurich Diamond League.n

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World Athletics, in its report on the meeting, said the Olympic champion produced a “flawless run” over the barriers to take 0.03 seconds off Amusan’s previous world record of 12.12 seconds.

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The governing body added that Nigeria’s Amusan finished second in a season’s best of 12.23 seconds, while European champion Nadine Visser of the Netherlands placed third in 12.34 seconds.

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The performance made Russell the new world record holder, American record holder and the fastest woman ever recorded in the 100m hurdles.

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World Athletics’ statistics page lists Russell’s 12.09 as the latest world record in the event, achieved at the Letzigrund stadium in Zurich on August 27, 2026.

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Who is Masai Russell?

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Born on June 17, 2000, Russell is a 26-year-old American athlete from Upper Marlboro, Maryland, who specialises in the 100m hurdles.

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World Athletics describes her as an Olympic champion and currently ranks her No. 1 in the world in the women’s 100m hurdles. Before her record-breaking run, she had already established herself as one of the leading hurdlers in the world.

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Russell’s breakthrough on the biggest stage came at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where she won gold in the women’s 100m hurdles.

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World Athletics, in a profile published after her Olympic triumph, described her as a fighter and highlighted the development of an athlete who had steadily progressed into the sport’s elite.

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From college star to Olympic champion

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Russell attended the University of Kentucky, where she built an impressive collegiate career.

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According to Kentucky Athletics, Russell was an 11-time All-American and competed in the 100m hurdles, 400m hurdles and relay events.

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Her collegiate achievements included NCAA silver medals in the 100m hurdles, 400m hurdles and 4x100m relay in 2023, as well as an NCAA Indoor 60m hurdles runner-up finish and an SEC Indoor 60m hurdles title, UK Athletics reported Thursday.

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Kentucky Athletics also reported that Russell set the collegiate 100m hurdles record at 12.36 seconds at the 2023 Texas Relays.

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She was subsequently named a semifinalist for The Bowerman, an award presented to the top collegiate track and field athlete in the United States.

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She was already threatening Amusan’s record

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Russell’s world record in Zurich was not entirely unexpected.

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In May 2026, she ran 12.14 seconds in Xiamen, China, to move within two hundredths of Amusan’s world record.

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World Athletics described the performance as the second-fastest women’s 100m hurdles time in history at the time and noted that Russell had consolidated her position as the second-fastest athlete ever in the event.

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That run was also an American and Diamond League record.

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With Amusan’s 12.12 still standing, Russell had effectively announced that the Nigerian’s record was within her reach.

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The record finally fell in Zurich

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At the Zurich Diamond League on Thursday, Russell delivered.

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World Athletics reported that she had already come close to the record twice during the year before finally breaking it in Zurich.

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She ran 12.09 seconds with a legal wind reading of 0.0m/s, beating Amusan’s 12.12 by three hundredths of a second.

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Russell said she knew she had produced something special as she approached the finish.

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She said, “When I saw 12.09, I got so emotional.”

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World Athletics quoted her as saying she had dreamed of the moment for a long time and described Zurich as the perfect place to break the record.

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Interestingly, Amusan was not merely watching from the stands.

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She was in the same race.

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The Nigerian finished second behind Russell in 12.23 seconds, recording her season’s best.

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That made the Zurich race particularly significant: the athlete who had owned the world record since 2022 was on the track when Russell finally took it from her.

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How Amusan set the record

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Amusan established her place in athletics history at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Oregon, United States.

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World Athletics reported that she ran 12.12 seconds in the semi-final, with a legal tailwind of 0.9m/s, to break the then-world record.

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She subsequently won the world title.

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Amusan also ran an extraordinary 12.06 seconds in the final, but that mark could not be recognised as a world record because the wind reading was +2.5m/s, above the permitted limit.

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World Athletics later formally ratified the 12.12 as the women’s 100m hurdles world record.

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The record remained untouched for more than four years before Russell’s 12.09.

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Olympic champion before world-record holder

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Russell’s record-breaking achievement comes two years after she reached the summit of Olympic athletics.

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At Paris 2024, she won the women’s 100m hurdles gold medal in 12.33 seconds.

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Her Olympic qualification itself had been spectacular.

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At the 2024 US Olympic Trials, Russell won the 100m hurdles in 12.25 seconds, securing her place on the American Olympic team. USATF’s comprehensive records list the 12.25 as the winning mark from the Olympic Trials.

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She then went on to win Olympic gold in Paris.

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Her 2026 season has been remarkable

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The Zurich record is the latest chapter in what has been an extraordinary 2026 campaign for Russell.

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World Athletics reported that she entered the Zurich meeting having already come close to Amusan’s record twice.

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At the Lausanne Diamond League on August 21, Russell won the women’s 100m hurdles in 12.27 seconds, recording her ninth victory of the season. Reuters reported that the victory extended her remarkable run of dominance heading into Zurich.

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She then produced the performance that had appeared increasingly inevitable — 12.09 seconds and a new world record.

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Russell’s record-breaking numbers

n n n Achievementn Markn n n New world recordn 12.09sn n n Previous record – Tobi Amusann 12.12sn n n Improvementn 0.03sn n n Windn 0.0m/sn n n Olympic titlen Paris 2024n n n Previous 2026 bestn 12.14sn n n 60m hurdles PBn 7.74sn n n Birth daten June 17, 2000n n n Nationalityn United Statesn n n Eventn 100m hurdlesn n n

World Athletics’ current athlete profile lists Russell’s previous personal best as 12.14 seconds, recorded in May 2026, before her 12.09 world record in Zurich.

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What next for Russell?

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The record comes at an important point in the 2026 athletics season.

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World Athletics said the Wanda Diamond League Final in Brussels is scheduled for the following week, while the World Athletics Ultimate Championship is also approaching.

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Russell therefore has an opportunity to turn what has already been a historic season into an even bigger one.

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For now, however, she has achieved something that appeared beyond reach just months ago: the Olympic champion has become the fastest 100m hurdler in history.

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And she did it while the woman whose record she broke — Tobi Amusan — was competing alongside her.

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